Ex-Londoner Chris Potter has forged a long, successful career in TV

Almost 30 years later and Chris Potter still doesn’t know for certain where he’ll find his next gig.

That’s a simple truth about the entertainment business — but one the former Londoner hasn’t had much to worry about since quitting his job as an insurance salesman to take an acting job.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have choices about the direction of my career,” mused Potter in an telephone interview ahead of this Sunday’s Heartland episode that he directed and airs at 7 p.m.

“But not knowing what you’re doing every year is a lifestyle for all of us.”

It’s the 18th episode directed by Potter. He also directs the Nov. 19 episode.

The show, in its 11th season and the longest running hour-long television drama in Canadian television history, stars Londoner Amber Marshall as Amy Fleming, who with sister Lou Fleming (Michelle Morgan), grandfather Jack Bartlett (Shaun Johnston), and Amy’s husband, Ty Borden (Graham Wardle) give audiences a sense of the highs and lows of living on a ranch.

Potter also stars in the series as Amy and Lou’s father, Tim Fleming, a former champion rodeo rider who left their mom and struggled with drug and alcohol abuse and later bought a nearby ranch trying to reconnect with his daughters, but somehow always finding trouble or conflict.

“He’s an antagonist in the show,” said Potter. “He’s the kind of character who stirs up trouble and people either hate him or love to hate him.”

It’s a role Potter initially balked at accepting when offered it in 2007.

“I passed on it when it was first offered to me,” said Potter. “But I did have a feeling a show like that could have legs.”

In hindsight, Potter’s acting seems almost a natural fit in his life.

He is the son of the late Ron Potter, a London Life regional manager and former pro football player drafted by the Toronto Argonauts who later coached for the Western University Mustangs and was inducted into Western’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. The father supported his son in his athletic pursuits.

His mother, Judith, was a singer and housewife involved in community theatre. She supported her son in his artistic pursuits.

Potter was an athlete at Oakridge secondary school, but was also a musician and singer, playing in bands.

In fact, he quit college to play in a band (Licks) and played with a few acclaimed London musicians, including the late Duncan Grant and bass player Colin Stewart.

Then he settled down and took a job, like his father, with London Life, while continuing to play music and act in local theatre.

He was recruited by Martha Henry, the renowned former Grand Theatre artistic director (and still a stalwart at Stratford Festival) after seeing him in a London Community Players production of London playwright Herman Goodden’s Suffering Fools.

She offered Potter a role in Biloxi Blues. Henry suggested Potter consider acting as a career.

It was soon after he was recruited by the CBC for a role in Material World.

That’s when he quit his day job.

“That was the encouragement I really needed to have — that it was possible for me to have an acting career,” said Potter, now 57.

“I knew that if I didn’t do it, I wasn’t sure I’d be a very happy person. (When he made the jump to acting) I didn’t know if there were rocks or water below, but I was pretty sure there was water.”

Today, he credits his early years as a professional musician and experience with community theatre for preparing “me for all the rejections and whatever it takes to succeed in this business.”

Potter said Henry’s advice was a “pivotal moment in my life and it was the right choice.”

The roles kept on coming, including the role of David Carradine’s son and crime-fighting partner, Det. Peter Caine on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues for four seasons, and then on to the drama Silk Stalkings for four seasons (where he made his directorial debut) and then a season on Queer as Folk.

Over the years, Potter has also made guest appearances on dozens of television shows and appeared in a long string of movies.

Potter is married to Karen Yuhasz, a former high-school teacher, and they have four adult children. They keep a home in San Diego for the winter months and another outside of London on Lake Huron for the summer.

Potter said one down side of his career is the constant moving involved with being an actor.

“It’s been challenging and difficult to maintain friendships,” said Potter, who spends most of his warm weather months in Canada shooting Heartland outside Calgary (May through to December).

“She’s maintained a tone for the show and she doesn’t deviate from that,” said Potter. “I think Heartland fills an entertainment void. It’s multi-generational and not a show that depends on cutting-edge technology.”

But as an actor and director, Potter is well positioned to describe Heartland as a “logistical challenge” that can deliver surprises on a fairly regular basis.

“We’re dealing with children, and the hour restrictions they have on set, so you’re always acutely aware of the cost,” said Potter. “Then there’s the weather, which is constantly changing, and the animals, all of it taped in remote locations.”

He also credited the crew as a “well-oiled machine” that hasn’t changed since the show began, bringing an element of consistency to the show and comfort for the actors and directors.

“It’s easily the most impressive crew I’ve ever worked with,” said Potter, noting many were recruited to work on the Oscar winning 2015 film,The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and also on the television series, Fargo.

When asked whether he preferred acting or directing, Potter was hesitant.

“I guess I’ll always prefer acting,” said Potter. “I love that part between the ‘Action’ and the ‘Cut’ but I’ve been told I’m effective as a director.”

While some actors may have a snooty attitude towards roles on television, not Potter.

“There are actors who won’t do television, but I never gave that much thought to care because my priority was always employment, constant work in a business I love to be in. And I’m very thankful and very lucky.”